On May 17 and 18, thousands of runners will fill the streets of Riga, as the annual Rimi Riga Marathon is about to celebrate its 35th anniversary. For several years now, the visual image of the marathon has been created in close collaboration with outstanding Latvian artists and designers, and this year is no exception. The 2025 medals and shirts have been designed by Ivars Heinrihsons and Helēna Heinrihsone, who have used horse and flower motifs that are signature to their work.
Since 2008, Latvian artists have been trusted to design the marathon shirt, and from 2019 this tradition continues with the medal design. Until then, the medals had been relatively standardised, featuring views of Riga, but since the involvement of artists, they have an additional value — an artistic uniqueness that reflects not only the spirit of the Riga Marathon but also the artist’s own individual style. This year, it is particularly distinctive, as both Heinrihsons use motifs that have become the hallmarks of their artistic identity: the horse for Ivars and the rose for Helēna. The visual look created by the Heinrihsons is a symbolic reference to relentless movement and perseverance. The design of both the shirts and the medals embodies the same qualities as the marathon participants themselves — energy and forward momentum.
Regardless of the distance, every participant will receive a medal designed by Ivars — it will not only be a token of remembrance from the Riga Marathon but also a symbol of individual victory. The horse pictured on the medal, like the marathon participants, is charging towards the finish line, seemingly breaking away from the medal. «A horse is made to run, and it is in all of us. I see these parallels in the marathon,» says Ivars. For the artist, the horse means breaking away from the greyness of everyday life and reaching towards something unknown. «The horse’s motive is dynamism, and especially in the marathon, it expresses itself as a drive to achieve a result, to reach a goal.»
The artist Helēna Heinrihsone worked on the marathon shirts. She created two designs — the official Nike running shirt and the 35th anniversary shirt. The design is based on an expressive floral composition in a vibrant colour palette that attracts attention while maintaining an artistic simplicity. In the design, Helēna strives for motion and portrays «running flowers». «In my large oil paintings, I want each rose petal to tremble and move a little. The Rimi Riga Marathon office inspired me to make the roses and flowers run, to strive forward,» says Helēna.
For some of the previous marathons, a single artist has worked on both the shirt and the medal design, such as Kristiāns Brekte in 2022 or Germans Ermičs in 2024, while other years the task has been shared between two artists, such as Maija Kurševa and Artūrs Analts in 2019. This year, for the first time, the medal and shirt were designed by an artist couple. «It’s a nice birthday present to have the two Heinrihsons, who are legendary in the Latvian art world, as the anniversary designers,» says marathon organiser Aigars Nords.
Aigars reveals that the main key points for the designs are: Riga, running, and the marathon. The brief is broad enough for each artist to perceive it differently and to be able to reflect their own interpretation of movement and energy in the design. «We like to give the artists space and freedom; we rely on them,» says Aigars. «It would be a sin on our part to try to influence the artists in the process or change their ideas. We go forward with their vision, whatever it may be.»
More information about the designs on the Riga Marathon website.
Viedokļi